Evaluation of the Temperature Segregation of the Asphalt Mixture Transportation Process by Intelligent Control Technology for Energy Efficient Utilization

Abstract

Production, transport, and placement processes of asphalt mixture are considered as the key phases of road construction. Intelligent control technology has recently been developed and applied for controlling the temperature of hot mix asphalt mixture during transportation. Therefore, the present study aimed at developing a new intelligent control system of asphalt mixture transportation. Moreover, a temperature field model was also established for the asphalt mixture during transportation. Furthermore, a thermal insulation measure is designed for the transport vehicles and the effect of the insulation is analyzed through a demonstration project. Finally, a novel evaluation method is proposed for the temperature segregation of asphalt mixture transportation. Accordingly, the influence of the temperature segregation is analyzed on the performance of the pavement (compactness and pavement smoothness). The obtained test results corroborated the applicability of the developed intelligent control system in real-time control of the whole process of asphalt mixture transportation. The temperature field model was also observed to accurately simulate the temperature loss of asphalt mixture in the transport vehicle. Furthermore, the evaluation index of the mixture transport temperature segregation was capable of accurately evaluating the status of the mixture transport temperature segregation and predicting the performance of the pavement.